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PAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 Editor: Angela Gary Phone: 706-367-2490 E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com Opinion “Where the press is free and every tnan able to read, all is safe.” — Thomas Jefferson Random thoughts I f Governor Palin were a man, would there be mention of five children, other than in the context of “family man” or “family values?” ••• I once tided to interview the “Hubcap Man,” whose Hwy. 98 yard fairly sparkled with well-shined hubcaps hanging just about everywhere. He declined, proud to turn down all media, saying that he had been asked for interviews repeatedly through the years. I was sorry to notice yesterday evening on my drive home that all the hubcaps have been taken down. The “Hubcap Man” has passed away, and all those stories with him. At what point does that realization — “Now why did I come into this room? What was I doing?” — become so frequent that it is cause for true concern? Or, what about that piece of paper you’ve jot ted notes on, you know, the one you apparently hid, very well, somewhere in the house? It hasn’t turned up yet, although I expect to find it any day now, perhaps in the freezer or the dishwasher. ••• My sister made a CD for my daughter, com plete not only with new songs, but also with the tunes she and I remember from Sesame Street and Electric Company (remember Electric Company?). The “Ma-nom-me-nomp, doo do de do doo, ma-nom-me-nomp, do do de doo, ma-nom-me-nomp, doo do da do da da do da, da doo doo doo doo do” (or something to that effect) song brings to mind my father in the kitchen, singing that, and making our school lunches. And what about the martian beauty, my number nine cutie, with nine hairs on her head and nine toes on her foot - “she doesn’t like shopping ‘cause she doesn’t like hopping, so usually she just stays home.” Yes, it does bring back memories, every time we listen to it. ••• What do you do when you realize that you will soon reach an age milestone and it seems like it’s one your mother just reached a year or two ago? I can remember, in fact, when my mother hung up the “Lordy, Lordy...” sign for her good friend. Could it really have been that long ago? And here I am, almost the age my mother was, who is almost the age her mother was...and so it goes. I suppose you keep going through the years, hoping you are lucky enough to reach all those next milestones together. Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks County News. E-mail comments about this column to jana@mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News Founded 1968 The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga. Mike Buffington Co-Publisher Scott Buffington Co-Publisher Angela Gary Editor Chris Bridges Sports Editor Sharon Hogan Reporter Anelia Chambers Receptionist Suzanne Reed Church News Phones (all 706 area code): Angela Gary Phone 367-2490 Angela Gary Fax 367-9355 Homer Office Phone 677-3491 Homer Office Fax 677-3263 (SCED 547160) Published weekly by MainStreet Newspapers, Inc., PO. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549 Subscription in county $19.75 Subscription in state $38.85 Subscription out of state $44.20 Military with APO address $42.20 Senior citizens get a $2 discount Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547 Postmaster, send address changes to: Subscriptions, The Banks County News, PO. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547 Member: Georgia Press Association Georgia Sports Writers Association National Newspaper Association m - i in ih ~ tni m /JU^' ^REMEMBER <1/11 Early analysis: How Obama lost P erhaps Barack Obama should throw in the towel now. The ball- game looks like it’s over. We still have two months to go before the presi dential election, and anything can happen. But Democrats would have to perform the equivalent of a Sarah Palin miracle to rescue their campaign and restore their momentum. A couple of weeks ago, I thought Obama had a chance to win. His spectacular appear ance before 80,000 people in a Denver football stadium was a stunning show of Democratic strength. His speech was great and on point. A day later, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appeared out of nowhere and made just about everyone forget Obama’s eloquence. A good old girl from the tundra stole the show by being tapped for VP. She turned the Obama-McCain traveling act on its ear. Stopping abortions replaced energy costs, the economy and the Iraq war as the pri mary issue in the campaign. The born-again Christian bloc — the heart of the Republican Party — is pulling out the stops for the GOP The evangelicals had been skeptical of John McCain and his advertised choices for vice president. Palin was 100 percent on the side of the conservative religious crowd. There was no doubt where she stood. And the church folks loved the drama that surrounded her selection. Palin even advocated banning “unsuitable books.” The NRA praised her skill in mow ing down moose. Quiet speculation circulated as to what kind of president Sarah would make if McCain, 72, were incapacitated and the VP had to take over. Before it could take hold, something else happened that helped McCain and inflicted another wound on Obama. The big bloggers and the national media stepped in. Irked that McCain had not let them in on tapping Palin for VP and even circulated misinformation among them, the big media set out to dig up scandalous material on Palin and her fam ily. The media’s efforts succeeded only in creating a wave of sympathy for Palin, thus Letters to the editor policy given The Banks County News has established a policy on printing Letters to the editor. We must have an original copy of all letters that are submitted to us for publi cation. Members of our staff will not type out or hand-write letters for people who stop by the office and ask them to do so. Letters to the editor must also be signed with the address and phone number of the person who wrote them. The address and phone number will be News department contact numbers helping solidify support for the decision to tap her for VP Don’t these big-shot media types ever leam? The voting public hates the media almost as badly as it detests Congress. The press barrage against Palin may have inocu lated her against future legitimate attacks and criticism. Most polls continue to show Obama hold ing a slight lead over McCain. Don’t be fooled by those numbers. Pollsters say get ting accurate numbers from a black-white election contest is nearly impossible. Poll respondents are known to fib when asked racial questions. The debates between candidates will occur shortly, but I doubt they will change the election’s outcome, unless someone makes a gigantic gaffe. However, Palin’s appointment may not look as good in 30 days, following her appearances, as it does now. Even if my hunch proves correct and Obama loses the election, his run has not been wasted. He has shown that a black candidate can make a heck of a stir in a national political contest. He has made his tory with his campaign and set the stage for future black candidates. In addition, Obama is the new breed of black leader who figures to be around for a long time. In a sense, he has picked up where MLK left off. One other thing: One of the positive tales about Palin is that she sold the state plane on eBay. Good idea! Gov. Sonny Perdue could sell the state’s entire fleet of aircraft on eBay and shore up the state budget, which is now roaring like a freight train toward a $2 billion shortfall. You can reach award-winning political columnist Bill Shipp at PO. Box 2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail: shippl@ bellsouth.net, or Web address: billshippon- line.com. for our verification purposes only and will not be printed unless the writer requests it. Mail to, The Banks County News, PO. Box 920, Homer, Ga. 30547. E-mailed letters will be accepted, but we must have a contact phone number and address. Letters that are libelous will not be printed. Letters may also be edited to meet space requirements. Anyone with questions on the policy is asked to contact editor Angela Gary at AngieEditor@aol. com or by calling 706-367-2490. Anyone with general story ideas, com plaints or comments about the news department is asked to call editor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490. She can also be reached by e-mail at AngieEditor@aol.com. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions relating to the county board of commissioners, county government, coun ty board of education and crime and courts is asked to contact staff reporter Chris Bridges at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris@mainstreetnews.com. Bridges alsois sports editorofthepaper and covers local high school, middle school and recreation sports. Anyone with comments, questions or suggestions relating to Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville, should contact Sharon Hogan at 706-367-5233 or by e-mail at sharon @ mainstreetnews.com. Calls concerning the City of Maysville should go to staff reporter Justin Poole at 706-367-2348 or e-mail him at justin@ mainstreetnews.com. Calls for information about the church page should go to Suzanne Reed at 706-677-3491. Church news may also be e-mailed to churchnews @ mainstreetnews.com. The Banks County News website is updated throughout the week and may be accessed on the Internet at www.banksnewsTODAY.com. Taking time to stop, be thankful for little things T he arrival of fall means an increase in the hectic work pace for us at Mainstreet Newspapers. I realize it’s not technically fall as Georgia’s summer sun continues to fight us almost daily. I say fall since football season is now upon us and kids are back in school. With the overall slower pace of the summer months now a thing of the past, we often forget to stop and be thankful for the little things in life. You know those things which we too often take for granted but are still grateful when we are able to notice them. With that in mind I give thanks today for: •a good night's sleep. •arriving at the local high school football stadium two hours before kickoff. There's nothing like soaking in the atmosphere that is high school football on a Friday night. It’s the bands, the teams, the community. It’s a slice of Americana at its abso lute best. • Wednesday afternoons when I arrive home knowing another edition of the paper has been finished. •a classic movie which I’ve seen at least 100 times, but still enjoy watching it again. •guilty pleasures like “The Jerry Springer Show” and “Cheaters” and knowing that no matter how far I’ve fallen, I've never made an appear ance on either. Ditto for the show “Cops.” •college and pro football media guides. •an old song which immediately takes you back to the year it was first popular. •sports talk radio. •a comfortable pair of shoes that are broken in just right. •columns by sports writing leg end Furman Bisher. We’re still able to enjoy his work which makes us luckier than we know. •newspaper reporters like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who did more good for this country with the printed word than I could ever hope to. Do high school students today even know about Watergate? •Keith Olbermann's “Worst Person in the World” segments. •the overnight radio show “Coast to Coast AM,” especially when the topic centers on UFOs, bigfoot, aliens and the like. •memories of hearing a liberal radio talk show host in Atlanta. •political columns by Bill Shipp like the one he wrote recently about Secretary of State Karen Handel and the questionnable decisions she has made. While some may contend Shipp is simply showing his liberal side, the column was backed up with tons of evidence which could not be simply ignored when it comes to Handel’s attempts to keep certain candidates off the ballot in our state. •watching the flock of birds and family of squirrels arrive at the feeding area we have established for them. Birds of all descriptions, as well as several squirrels, have become quite demanding but are still enjoyable in daily viewing. •those of you, like myself, who still enjoy reading a newspaper by holding it in your hands rather than looking at it on a computer. Much has changed about the newspaper business even in the time I entered it professionally in 1993 but I hope we will always have the printed edition to enjoy. •my recliner after a long day of work which often stretches well into the late afternoon and on into the evening. •the first rays of light as it peaks through the window in the morning. Chris Bridges is a reporter for The Banks County News. E-mail com ments about this column to him at chris @ mainstreetnews. com. chris bridges